JP4125309B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus that records and corrects time data, and is suitable for use in, for example, an electronic still camera having a function of recording photographing recording time together with image data.

  2. Description of the Related Art An electronic still camera that captures a subject and outputs a captured still image as analog or digital image data is widely known. In many cases, this type of camera has a function of recording the date and time at the time of photographing together with image data. Such a camera has a built-in controller having a clock function and always performs a timekeeping operation.

  However, when the remaining battery power for driving the controller having the clock function is exhausted, not only time measurement becomes impossible, but also time data is lost. That is, since the time data is initialized when the battery is replaced, in this case, the user has to newly input the date and time again.

  Therefore, in order to solve such inconvenience, a capacitor with a large capacity is connected in parallel with the battery, and even when the battery is replaced, the clocking operation is continued for a while using the charging voltage of the capacitor. An improved camera has also been proposed.

  Therefore, in this case, even when the battery voltage is lowered, the clocking operation can be continued for a while by the voltage from the capacitor connected in parallel. And if the power supply voltage of the controller which performs time-measurement operation until a user replaces a battery can be ensured, time data can be hold | maintained and it becomes unnecessary to newly rewrite time data.

  However, even in a camera connected to a capacitor, if the battery is left without being replaced, the timing operation cannot be continued even with the voltage stored in the capacitor. Therefore, the time data has disappeared, and eventually the time data has to be newly input after replacing the battery.

  In this case, if shooting is performed without inputting the time data, the time data recorded together with the image is different from the actual time and becomes meaningless. The conventional camera has a problem that it is difficult to correct an incorrect recording time to a correct time after shooting without inputting time data.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus that can correct time data that is different from actual time data even when it is recorded on a medium.

  An image pickup apparatus according to the present invention includes an image pickup element that converts a subject image into an electric signal, an image pickup signal processing means that converts the electric signal into image data, a time measuring means that outputs time data, and a correction of the time data. Control means for correcting the time data, storage means for storing flag information indicating whether the time data has been corrected by the control means, the time data and the flag information in the image Output means for outputting to a recording medium in association with data.

  According to the present invention, the timing data and the flag information indicating whether or not the timing data has been corrected are output to the recording medium in association with the image data. Accordingly, the image data is associated with the image data by referring to the flag information. Whether or not the measured time data is correct can be determined at any time. Thereby, for example, even if the time data disappears when the battery of the imaging device is replaced and time data different from the actual time is recorded, the time data is referred to by referring to the flag information associated with the image data. It is possible to determine whether or not is incorrect and correct it to the correct timing data.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an imaging device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a digital still camera system which is a first embodiment of an imaging apparatus of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a camera unit, and 200 denotes a host computer unit, which digitally records an image photographed by the camera unit 100 on a removable card recording medium 118. Further, by transferring image data and various types of information to the host computer unit 200 through the external bus I / F 16, it is possible to perform reproduction of captured images and various image processing.

  Next, 2 is an aperture / shutter that serves both as an aperture function and a shutter function, 3 is a CCD (Charged Coupled Device) that converts reflected light from the subject into an electrical signal, and 4 is a CDS circuit or A for removing output noise from the CCD 3. It is a pre-processing circuit provided with a non-linear amplifier circuit that is performed before / D conversion.

  5 is an A / D converter, 6 is a system controller that controls the entire system, 7 is an operation unit, 8 is a mechanical system drive circuit that drives the lens 101 and the combined shutter 2 under the control of the system controller 6, and 13 is an image pickup device. A timing signal generator (TG) that generates a timing signal necessary for operating the element.

  9 is an image sensor driving circuit that amplifies the timing signal supplied from the TG 13 to a level at which the image sensor can be driven, 10 is a DRAM that temporarily stores the captured digital image data, and 11 is digital image data corresponding to the pixels of the CCD 3. An image signal processing unit 14 for processing the data is a card I / F for exchanging data between the card recording medium 118 as a data recording means and the DRAM 10.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes an external bus I / F for transferring an image to the host computer 200 and exchanging information attached to the image. Reference numeral 20 denotes a clock built in the camera unit 100, which exchanges time data (including “date”) with the system controller 6. Reference numeral 22 denotes a built-in clock of the host computer 200, 24 denotes input means such as a keyboard and a mouse, and 26 denotes display means such as a CRT.

The camera built-in clock 20 corresponds to a timekeeping means, and the computer built-in clock 22 corresponds to a second timekeeping means.
Hereinafter, the initial setting of time data, shooting / recording, transfer of data in the card recording medium 118 to the host computer 200, and operation of the camera built-in clock 20 will be described in order.

[Initial setting of time data]
First, initial setting of time data will be described. Immediately after the battery is loaded, the value of the camera built-in clock 20 does not represent the current time, so it is necessary to input time data to the camera in some form.

  In this embodiment, instead of setting the date and time by operating the switch of the camera unit 100 main body, the camera unit 100 is connected to the host computer 200, and the camera 22 is automatically built in using the clock 22 built in the host computer 200 side. The time of the clock 20 is corrected.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the camera built-in clock 20 further divided into functions. In FIG. 2, 201 is a clock, 202 is a timer that actually performs a clock operation using the clock 201, 203 is a memory that stores time data, and 204 is a communication I / F that communicates with the system controller 6.

  Reference numeral 205 denotes control means for controlling each part of the timer 202, the memory 203, and the communication I / F 204, and constitutes a recording control means and a time correction means together with the system controller 6. Since the camera built-in clock 20 continuously performs the time counting operation even when the photographing operation by the camera is not performed, the power is supplied by a system different from other parts of the camera. Therefore, the clocking operation starts as soon as the battery is inserted, and continues to operate until the battery runs out.

  When a battery (not shown) is inserted into the camera built-in clock 20, the program in the control means 205 is started. Then, first, the contents of the memory 203 are initialized. Next, an update interval (for example, every second) of the timer 202 is set, and thereafter, the timer 202 notifies the control means 205 every time when the value set at the update interval is reached.

  Upon receiving this notification, the control unit 205 updates the contents of the time data in the memory 203. As a result, the time data in the memory 203 is counted up as time passes.

  Note that the format of the time data in the memory 203 is not necessarily the same format as the time information actually recorded on the card recording medium 118, and some processing may be added in the system controller 6.

  For example, if the time data in the memory 203 is expressed in 32 bits as the total second data from a certain reference time, the camera built-in clock 20 itself only performs an increment operation at a constant interval and does not need to perform a special conversion operation. Therefore, a simple configuration can be achieved.

If the time that can be expressed by 32-bit total second data is expressed in (year),
2 ³² / (365 * 24 * 60 * 60) = about 136 (years)
It turns out that it is enough to keep time.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the time data Time of the memory 203 in the camera built-in clock 20 is initialized to zero when the power is turned on, and at the same time whether or not the time data has been set. The time setting flag Flg shown is set to “0”. Thus, the memory 203 for storing the value of the time setting flag Flg corresponds to time data setting storage means.

  Assuming that this initialization time is a reference time indicating January 1, 1970 00: 00: 00: 00, the time data Time is the elapsed time from this reference time in seconds (hereinafter referred to as total seconds). This is expressed in units.

  Therefore, the camera built-in clock 20 itself does not have the concept of date, time, and minute. The conversion operation to the year / month / day / hour / minute is performed by software on the system controller 6 or the host computer 200 side.

The content of the time data Time after one hour has elapsed without connecting the camera unit 100 to the host computer 200 is as shown in FIG.
On the other hand, the processing procedure on the host computer 200 side when connected to the host computer 200 for initial setting of time data is as follows.

  First, the connection is confirmed, and it is checked whether or not the time setting flag Flg in the camera built-in clock 20 is set (whether or not the value is “1”). Then, if the value of the time setting flag Flg is “1”, it is determined that the time has already been set, and the process is terminated.

  If the value of the time setting flag Flg is “0”, it is determined that the time has not been set, and the current time is loaded from the built-in clock 22 in the host computer 200. Next, the loaded current time is converted into the above-described total second format, and the command / data is transferred to the system controller 6 on the camera unit 100 side. If there are contents to be initialized other than the time, those data are also transferred. Then, the time setting flag Flg is set to “1” and the initialization operation is finished.

  At this time, on the camera unit 100 side, a command for correcting the time of the camera built-in clock 20 is transmitted from the system controller 6 to the control means 205 through the communication I / F 204. Corresponding to this, the control means 205 rewrites the contents of the time data Time in the memory 203.

  For example, when the time of the internal clock 22 on the host computer 200 is 8:24:30 on January 10, 1995, the contents of the memory 203 in the camera internal clock 20 are as shown in FIG. Rewritten.

[Shooting and recording operations]
Next, referring to FIG. 1, the state of the photographing / recording operation of the camera unit 100 alone will be described.

  When shooting is instructed by operating the operation unit 7, the lens 101 and the aperture / shutter 2 are driven under the control of the system controller 6, and the focal length, aperture, and shutter speed corresponding to the shooting conditions are set. Thereafter, a timing signal necessary for operating the CCD 3 is generated by the TG 13 to the image sensor driving circuit 9, and the CCD 3 is driven.

  The signal photoelectrically converted by the CCD 3 is temporarily stored in the DRAM 10 through the pre-processing circuit 4 and the A / D converter 5 and then processed into digital image data corresponding to the pixels of the CCD 3 by the imaging signal processing unit 11. , Stored in the DRAM 10.

  The image data stored in the DRAM 10 in the above imaging sequence is recorded on the card recording medium 118 through the card I / F 14. At this time, the time information in the camera built-in clock 20, that is, the total time Time and the time setting flag Flg are taken out by the control of the system controller 6 and stored as attribute files in the card recording medium 118 through the card I / F 14.

  Further, after shooting, in order to confirm the contents of the recorded image more quickly, an image obtained by thinning the shot image is stored in the card recording medium 118 as a reduced image file. These attribute files and reduced image files are stored in association with corresponding image data.

[Transfer of data in the recording medium to the host computer]
By connecting the external bus I / F 16 and the host computer 200 with a cable (not shown), the image information and time information recorded on the card recording medium 118 can be transferred to the host computer 200.

Hereinafter, a procedure for transferring data recorded on the card recording medium 118 to the host computer 200 will be described.
First, when the connection with the host computer 200 is confirmed, the system controller 6 enters a state waiting for a command from the host computer 200.

  In order to display a list of image data stored in the card recording medium 118, the host computer 200 issues a command to the system controller 6 to load the above-described thinned images and shooting time information of each image.

  The system controller 6 reads out the thinned image and the shooting time information from the card recording medium 118 in response to the above-described command, and transfers it to the host computer 200 through the external bus I / F 16. The host computer 200 receives these data and outputs a list of index images as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 210 denotes an image number given for each image at the time of recording on the card recording medium 118, which is managed by the system controller 6. The image number is incremented by 1 every time one image is recorded. Reference numeral 212 denotes a simple image (thinned image) read from the above-described reduced image file, and 214 denotes time data at the time of recording.

  When the user selects a desired image from the index image using the input means 24 such as a mouse or a keyboard connected to the host computer 200, the host computer 200 sends image data corresponding to the image number from the card recording medium 118. Load and output to the display means 26.

[Correction of shooting time data recorded on recording medium]
As described above, since the camera built-in clock 20 immediately after battery insertion does not correctly represent the current time, the time data was input using the built-in clock 22 of the host computer 200. Since the time data of the camera built-in clock 20 is lost even when the operation is performed, resetting is necessary.

  In this embodiment, in such a case, even when incorrect time data is once written in the card recording medium 118 without setting the time at the time of battery replacement, the correct time at the time of connection with the host computer 200 is obtained. Data can be automatically corrected.

  FIG. 5A is a list of the contents of the attribute file of each image shown in FIG. As is apparent from FIG. 5A, for the dates and times from image numbers 1 to 3, the time setting flag Flg is “1”, and the time setting flags Flg after image number 4 are “0”. From this, it can be estimated that the battery was exchanged between the image data of the image numbers 3 and 4.

  For example, the image data of image number 4 can be estimated from the recorded time data that the image was taken 7 minutes and 12 seconds after the battery was replaced. It is only necessary to know the time indicated by the clock 20 and the exact time at that time.

  Here, FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of software processing on the host computer 200 side when the time data in the card recording medium 118 is updated by connecting to the host computer 200.

  6, first, current time data Tcam_now indicated by the camera built-in clock 20 in the camera unit 100 and current time data Tpc_now indicated by the built-in clock 22 of the host computer 200 (both time data are the above-described 32-bit total second data). (Assuming to be represented) is read (step S301).

  Next, the reduced image of the photographed image, the photographing time data Tcam_rec, and the time setting flag Flg are read (step S302). Then, it is checked by the time setting flag Flg whether or not the read photographing time data Tcam_rec indicates the correct time (step S303).

  That is, when the time setting flag Flg is “0” (time data not set), it can be presumed that the camera clock 20 is reset due to battery replacement or for some reason, and that image data has been shot after the time data is cleared. .

Therefore, in this case, the photographing time Tcam rec is corrected as follows (step S304), and the time setting flag Flg of the designated image in the card recording medium 118 is set to “1” (step S305).
Tcam_rec = Tcam_rec + (Tpc_now-Tcam_now)… (*)

If the time setting flag Flg is “1” (time data has been set), the processes in steps S304 and S305 are skipped.
The processes in steps S302 to S305 are repeated until all the captured images in the card recording medium 118 are loaded into the host computer 200 (step S306).

  When all the captured images are loaded into the host computer 200, the current time Tpc_now of the host computer 200 is read again (step S307), and this is transferred to the camera unit 100 side as the current time Tcam_now of the camera unit 100 (step S307). S308). Through the above processing, the current time is corrected (same as initialization of time data).

For example, the current time of the camera built-in clock 20 and the time of the built-in clock 22 of the host computer 200 are 1970/01/01 10: 00.00 (total seconds: 36,000 sec), 1995/07/23 1:00. If it is 00 (total seconds: 806, 457, 600 sec), the accurate recording time Tcam_rec4 of the image data of image number 4 can be obtained from the above equation (*).
Tcam_rec4 = 432 + (806,457,600-36,000)
= 806,421,432 (sec)
=> 1995/07/22 15: 07.12
Can be estimated.

  Similarly, when the image data of the image numbers 5 and 6 are also corrected, the list of attribute files after correction is as shown in FIG. 5B, and the correction of the photographing time is completed.

  In this embodiment, the camera built-in clock 20 has the time setting flag Flg, and the time information is corrected by writing this flag as attribute information in the card recording medium 118, but instead of the flag. It is also possible to determine whether the time data has been set based on the contents of the time data itself.

For example, among the total second data from the reference time represented by 32 bits described above, the upper 4 bits are all “0”.
2 ²⁸ / (365 * 24 * 60 * 60) = approximately 8.5 years.

  That is, the time data in the camera unit 100 corresponds to a portion corresponding to the period from 1970 to June 1978, but this range is already in the past, and it is assumed that there is no opportunity to be used for normal date and time settings. be able to.

  Therefore, if the upper 4 bits of the total second data are all “0”, the battery is replaced during shooting or the camera built-in clock 20 is reset for some reason, and the time data is not set thereafter. It can be estimated. In this way, the upper 4 bits of the time data can be used as a flag indicating whether or not it has been set.

  In the above embodiment, only the information (for example, image number) of the image data recorded in the state where the time setting flag Flg is “0”, that is, the time data of the camera built-in clock 20 is not set correctly is stored. If it is stored in the card recording medium 118, the time non-set data can be searched and corrected when connected to the host computer 200.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the photographing can be performed even when the time setting flag Flg in the memory 203 is “0”, but the time setting flag Flg is “0”, that is, the time is not set. It can also be set so that shooting recording cannot be performed. In this way, it is possible to prevent the meaningless date / time data from being recorded.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a digital still camera according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

A detailed description of the configuration common to FIG. 1 as the first embodiment described above will be omitted.
In FIG. 7, reference numeral 28 denotes time setting means provided in the operation unit 7, which rewrites the time data of the camera built-in clock 22 by a user operation. Reference numeral 30 denotes a card recording medium slot built in the host computer 200.

  In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the time recorded on the card recording medium 118 is corrected only when the camera unit 100 is connected to the host computer 200. However, in this embodiment, the camera The unit 100 can be used alone. The initial setting of the time and the correction of the time after battery replacement are performed by the user using the time setting means 28.

  FIG. 8 shows a detailed block diagram in the camera built-in clock 20 according to the second embodiment. As a count information storage means that is a non-volatile memory with respect to the configuration of the first embodiment. EEPROM 206 is added.

  In the present embodiment, the number of resets of the camera built-in clock 20 is stored in the EEPROM 206 in order to know how many times battery replacement has been performed. By recording the number of resets together with the time data when recording the time data, it is possible to correct the time more accurately.

  The processing procedure of the camera built-in clock 20 in the present embodiment is shown in the flowchart of FIG. The operation of the camera built-in clock 20 will be described below with reference to FIG.

  First, when a battery is loaded in the camera, the control unit 205 increments the reset counter RC stored in the EEPROM 206 by 1 (step S801). It is assumed that the reset counter RC is initialized to zero when the camera is shipped from the factory. Next, both the time setting setting flag Flg and the total seconds Time in the memory 203 are initialized to zero (step S802).

  Then, it is checked whether or not the time setting means 28 has been operated (step S803). If the user performs time input operation, the attribute file of the image taken in the past is searched to correct the incorrect time data. (Step S804). Details of the process in step S804 will be described later.

  Next, the time set by the user is converted into the total second data from the reference time, which is substituted for the total second Time in the memory 203, and the time setting flag Flg is set to “1” (step S805). . If the time setting means 28 is not operated, the processes in steps S804 and S805 are skipped and the process jumps to step S806.

  Thereafter, when a shooting command is issued by the operation unit 7 (step S806), a shooting recording operation is performed (see [shooting / recording operation] in the first embodiment). In this embodiment, the reset counter RC in the EEPROM 206 is stored in the card recording medium 118 in addition to the total time Time and the time setting flag Flg as an attribute file for each image (step S807).

  The total second data Time in the memory 203 is incremented by 1 every second (steps S808 and S809). Normally, the processing in steps S808 and S809 is executed as timer interrupt processing.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a more detailed procedure for the correction processing of the recorded photographing time data shown in step S804 of FIG.
In this correction process, first, the attribute files of all images stored in the card recording medium 118 are examined. (Step S901). If the time setting flag Flg in the attribute file is “1”, the time data is not corrected and the process jumps to step S904.

  On the other hand, when the time setting flag Flg is “0”, the reset counter RC in the EEPROM 206 is compared with the reset counter RC in the attribute file (step S902), and if the two values are equal, the time data of the image is added. Correction is made based on the second data Time and the time set by the user (step S903). Note that the correction method is the same as that described in [Correction of shooting time data recorded on the recording medium] in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted here.

  If the two values are not equal, the process jumps from step S902 to step S904. When the search for all data is completed (step S904), the time correction process is terminated.

  Thus, by storing the number of resets as an attribute file for each image, the shooting time can be corrected and estimated more accurately. For example, it is assumed that the list of attribute information in the card recording medium 118 at a certain time is as shown in FIG.

  From FIG. 11A, the user resets the time even though the batteries are exchanged between image number 1 and image number 2 and between image number 3 and image number 4. Since it was not performed, it is understood that incorrect time data is recorded for image numbers 2, 3, and 4.

  In this case, in the first embodiment described above, the time setting flag Flg is “0” for the image numbers 2, 3, and 4, and thus the time is corrected. Is performed only for the image number 4, and the image numbers 2 and 3 are corrected to an incorrect time.

  This is because the time information of the camera built-in clock 20 after the first battery replacement has been lost as a result of battery replacement twice. Therefore, it is impossible to correct the time for the image numbers 2 and 3, and the time setting flag should be set to “0” without correction.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the time correction is performed only for the unset time data after the last battery replacement by comparing the number of resets in step S902 of FIG.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 11B, only the time data of the image number 4 is correctly corrected.

  In this case, accurate time data cannot be obtained for the time data (time data of image numbers 2 and 3) after the first battery replacement surrounded by a frame line in FIG. 11B. However, the range of the shooting time can be determined by referring to the shooting time data of the image numbers before and after that.

  That is, the image data of the image numbers 2 and 3 were captured within the period of 1995/01/06 11: 00.00 to 1995/01/26 18: 36.55, respectively.

  Although such shooting time range information may be used as an attribute, in the present embodiment, provisional time data is created by the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 in order to facilitate searchability. In this case, the system controller 6 and the control means 205 in FIG. 8 include provisional time creation means. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG.

  First, the time setting flag Flg is checked in order from the image number 1 in the card recording medium 118 to search for time non-set data. The image number found first is set as X (step S1201). Next, the time data Time (X) of the image number X is temporarily saved in the temporary variable TEMP (step S1202), and the time data Time (X-1) of the image number (X-1) which is the immediately preceding image number. ) Plus 1 is substituted into Time (X) (step S1203).

  Next, the reset counts RC (X) and RC (X + 1) of the image number X and the image number (X + 1) are compared (step S1204), and if both values are not equal, the process ends. On the other hand, if the two values are equal, processing for saving the relationship of the time difference between the images that have not been set is performed (steps S1205 and S1206), and the process returns to step S1204.

  FIG. 11C shows the content after the processing of FIG. 12 is performed on the attribute information of FIG. In the process of FIG. 12, the time data of the image number immediately before the battery replacement plus 1 second is corrected as the first unset time data after the battery replacement, and the subsequent unset time data is corrected. The time difference between the unset time data is adjusted to be saved. Therefore, the time difference between the image numbers 2 and 3 is the same in both (b) and (c) of FIG.

  As described above, even if the time data recorded without setting the time cannot be corrected correctly, if there is data recorded at the correct time before and after the time data, the temporary time data can be obtained by the method described above. Can be created. Since the time order of these time data is guaranteed, an accurate result can be obtained when, for example, files are sorted in order of date and time.

  In addition, when accurate time information of any time data among later time data or temporarily set time data is found later, all the times having the same reset number RC as that time data The data can be corrected to the correct time.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the time setting means 28 is provided in the camera unit 100, so that the current time and the time data of the captured image can be corrected without connection to the host computer 200. it can.

  In addition, since the information on the number of resets of the camera built-in clock 20 is added to the attribute file in the card recording medium 118 and stored, even when the user replaces the battery a plurality of times without setting the time. By selecting only the data that can be corrected, the time can be corrected correctly.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital still camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of a camera built-in timepiece. It is a figure which shows the change of the memory content in a camera built-in timepiece. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the image output to the display means of a host computer, and time information. It is a figure which shows the example of the list of the attribute information preserve | saved in a card recording medium. It is a flowchart showing the correction process procedure of the time data at the time of a connection with a host computer. It is a block diagram which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the camera built-in timepiece of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the camera built-in timepiece in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the correction process sequence of the recorded imaging | photography time in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the list of the attribute information preserve | saved in a card recording medium. It is a flowchart which shows the temporary setting process sequence of the unset time data in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

6 System Controller 20 Camera Built-in Clock 22 Host Computer Built-in Clock 28 Time Setting Unit 100 Camera Unit 118 Card Recording Medium 200 Host Computer Unit 203 Memory 205 Control Unit 206 EEPROM

Claims (5)

An image sensor for converting a subject image into an electrical signal;
Imaging signal processing means for converting the electrical signal into image data;
A timing means for outputting timing data;
A control means for correcting the time data in response to an instruction to correct the time data;
Storage means for storing flag information indicating whether or not the timing data has been corrected by the control means;
An image pickup apparatus comprising: output means for outputting the timing data and the flag information to a recording medium in association with the image data.   When the battery for operating at least the timing means and the storage means is replaced, the timing data is initialized, and the flag information is set to information indicating that the timing data is not corrected. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1. A connection means for connecting to an external computer;
When the time information of the computer is received via the connection means, if the flag information is set to information indicating that the time data has not been corrected, the time data is set to the time. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging apparatus is modified based on information, and the flag information is set to information indicating that the timing data is modified. It further has time setting means,
If the flag information is set to information indicating that the time data has not been corrected when the time setting means is instructed to set the time, the time data is set to the time setting instruction. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flag information is set to information indicating that the timing data is corrected.   Counter storage means for storing a reset counter that is incremented each time the battery is loaded, and the output means associates the value of the reset counter in addition to the timing data and the flag information to the image data. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the imaging apparatus outputs the output.

Images